Sea Of Red Rage Awaiting 'noles

The Florida State Seminoles will enter a sea of red tonight, a fanatic throng of Nebraska fans who are red in the face over the bad publicity their team has received this week.

The Cornhuskers have been taken to task for their misuse of complimentary game tickets. Sixty Nebraska players, including 30 of their top 40 players, were ordered to serve one- or two-game suspensions by the NCAA before Nebraska Athletic Director Bob Devaney won a reprieve Thursday, a little more than 48 hours before tonight's kickoff.

Had his efforts failed, Nebraska would have had to suspend a minimum of 10 players for the nationally televised game.

But the Cornhuskers will be at full strength. That is not of total consolation to Nebraska's faithful followers, most of whom will comprise a sellout crowd at Memorial Stadium (capacity: 73,650) for the 144th consecutive game.

Around Lincoln, fans whose emotions live and die with Nebraska football, viewed the NCAA's actions as a personal affront and promised to vent their frustrations vocally at the game.

''It was like this was World War II, and somebody dropped a bomb on Lincoln,'' one student said.

The NCAA's action erased worries from Lincoln to Tallahassee to New York City, where officials from ABC television were studying what was available in their archives in case the game was scrapped.

There will be no forfeit, though.

Now FSU, which had to fight being distracted by the controversy, will face a Nebraska team that may be filled with emotion.

''I expect they'll come out all fired up,'' FSU Coach Bobby Bowden said. ''What could have hurt us was to start relying on that information that some of their players were not going to be there and then have this happen. I think you'll see a Nebraska team that is ready to play.''

A pumped-up opponent playing at home. An angry, sellout crowd ready to shake its fist at anybody who dares challenge the Cornhuskers.

The Seminoles (1-0) may have the Cornhuskers right where they want them, judging by their past performances on the road. The Seminoles are 2-1 in games with Nebraska -- all played at Lincoln, including a 17-13 victory last year. The Seminoles, who in the late '70s loaded up on road games while looking for big paydays, have fared well at some other tough places to play. The Seminoles are 2-0 at Arizona State, 4-1 at LSU, 1-0 at Notre Dame and 2-0 at Ohio State. Much of Florida State's national reputation has been built over the last 10 years as a result of their difficult road schedule and their ability to win those games. FSU's players, who figured to have an easy time if Nebraska was faced to suspend most of its players, said they're glad they'll be facing Nebraska's best.

Running back Sammie Smith of Apopka said, ''If we win, and they didn't play their best athletes, the win would not be as satisfying. Negative facts would be used by all the media if they didn't play their best and we won.''

Sophomore quarterback Chip Ferguson, who took over for injured Danny McManus in last year's game with Nebraska, said he never thought the Cornhuskers would be weakened.

''They have got a ton of football players,'' he said.

Defensive tackle Gerald Nichols agreed.

''We are going out to play football,'' he said. ''It makes no difference who we play.''

Even at the height of the controversy, FSU's coaches and officials apparently tried to play it low-key with their players.

Seminoles linebacker Terry Warren said FSU worried Nebraska was trying to use the controversy to its advantage.

''Our coaches told us that even if the suspensions did go through that Nebraska would still play its best players and for us not to let up,'' Warren said. ''They told us that they might have to suspend 10 players for the game but that they could suspend some players who were injured or some that didn't even figure to play in the game anyway.''

Now the Seminoles don't have to play any guessing games. At least until an NCAA hearing Tuesday, Nebraska's lineup is intact, just the way the Seminoles wanted.

''Yeah,'' FSU tight end Pat Carter said. ''We wanted to play their best people. Now we can finish with all this talking and go play football.''